Madame Sata

Brazil / France 2002, 99 minutes
Dir. Karim Ainouz
In Portuguese with English subtitles
Rating: [R16]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Drama / LGBT

Topics: Period 1930s.

Feat. Lazaro Ramos, Marcelia Cartaxo, Felippe Marques, Flavio Bauraqui

Aroview: The underbelly of 1930s Rio de Janeiro glistens in this atmospheric drama about the celebrated João Francisco dos Santos (Ramos), a flamboyant gay drag performer who flouted convention and authority, achieving a permanent place in Brazilian folklore.

With a hair-trigger temper, martial-arts skills and drug-taking hobbies, Santos was destined for trouble and eventually prison, and debuting dir. Ainouz provides a skilfully rounded portrait of self-destruction. Redolent of gay identity politics, this gives the usual issues a fresh arrangement in a fascinating period framing.